Originally posted by Chocolateuke But when Payet teaches us we have a lot of variation ( IE shomen, yokomen, swariwaza, ursiro waza, two hand grab, ect..) ,

I think I understand George's point, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...

My teacher tells his experienced students that, during training at his dojo, they shouldn't try to do the same technique four times in a row as nage but four different ways -- variations, if you would.

The way we describe "variations" in a technique isn't what the attack is, but something a lot more subtle that's contained within the technique. Even for a "simple" exercise like tenkan (tai no henko) when being grabbed on the right side, I may opt to change the initial movement (the "deai") slightly -- it may go into uke's center, away from uke's center, to the right, to the left, up, down, and anywhere in between.

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chaining between tech is used , its not really taught persay.

Very often when I'm doing a technique, uke may behave differently than that in which the technique we're doing may not be the "best fit." In that case, I very often change it to be a different technique. We frequently study these kinds of henkawaza. (In fact, I just led a class on henkawaza from ikkyo (eg iriminage, jyujigaramenage, shihonage) the other day -- imagine that...)

I, too, believe very much that I could use a good dose of kihon waza training, though. The few classes I have had training with Yoshinkan instructors (including with Inoue sensei at the Aiki Expo) have been very enjoyable. But, to be honest, I don't know if I could do it for long! I guess I've gotten too used to drawing outside the lines...